Bremen

brem'en, an important commercial city of northwestern Germany. It is situated at the head of deep-water navigation on the Weser River, thirty-seven miles from the North Sea. Bremerhaven at the mouth of the Weser is its port, though ships drawing no more than seventeen feet of water may ascend to Bremen. With ninety-nine square miles of territory, the city constitutes "an independent republic," and is one of the states forming the German Empire.

Among the cities of Germany Bremen ranks next to Hamburg in foreign commerce. Its port is entered by 3,000 sea-going vessels a year. Bremen merchants own 613 of these. The North German Lloyd company, with 213 ships, has head-quarters here. Each year goods to the value of $216,000,000 are shipped outward and goods to an equal value are received from abroad. Bremen is a large buyer of raw cotton, coffee, and petroleum. In 1902, 143,329 German emigrants set sail from Bremerhaven, chiefly for America.

In 788 Bremen was granted a bishop by Charlemagne. The city was a member off and on of the famous Hanseatic League. Bremen is a typical German city. The old walls have been leveled to make way for boulevards. At the center is a marketplace and a fine old city hall with stained glass windows, great hall, and a handsome carved stairway. A cathedral, a Gothic exchange, numerous statues of celebrities, fountains, queer old gables, crooked streets, and quaint shops make the city a delightful place for a ramble. Population in 1905, 263,440.

See Germany; Hanseatic League